Jake Tapper seemed just as confused as the rest of us. After spending a week trying to figure out the why and how of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, the CNN anchor was now faced with an even more puzzling question: why the British pop singer had called Vice President Kamala Harris a “brat.” TOP I tried to explain it to him, but eventually he understood: “We’re all kids.” “I want to be a kid,” Tapper concluded.
Apparently we all say that.
What’s happened in the week since President Joe Biden announced he wouldn’t seek reelection and tapped his running mate, Harris, as his nominee has seen the meme-ification of the US presidential election go from a cautious yellow to a neon, slimy, “let’s go” green.
Shortly after Biden made his announcement on Sunday, British pop star Charli XCX posted to X, “Kamala’s a brat,” cementing a suspicion that had been simmering for weeks. An internet that had either been feeling “meh” about Biden, spending its time on the Trump Train or peddling conspiracy theories was suddenly smitten. The Harris HQ Instagram account embraced the meme. Gays on Fire Island wore Kamala shirts. Brat The lime green of the album cover before the sun sets on Sunday.
But Brat Summer extends beyond this moment. Like the “Hot Girl Summer” meme that was spawned in 2019 by Megan Thee Stallion’s song of the same name, Brat Summer extends beyond Charli XCC’s album. Brat To embody the feel of the 2024 season. For Charlie, that’s being a little messy, a little shaky, a little vulnerable, and that’s what Tapper was trying to get at. But it’s also being honest. It’s crying in the club, crying in a ridiculous outfit with the top down about the state of the world. It’s anti-defeatism, in a way.
This was Brat Summer’s idea. Brat It dropped in mid-June and was factored into 2024 politics just weeks before Biden announced he was dropping out of the race. Ryan Long, a 22-year-old college student, called Harris’ now-infamous “You think you fell from a coconut tree?” remark to Green. Brat Kamala appeared on the cover in early July. It has now been viewed more than 4 million times on X, and Long told TechCrunch, “Thanks to that Venn diagram quote, Kamala becomes a gay Twitter trending topic every two months. She’s become a pseudo-gay icon, so to speak.”
Because this can be confusing to anyone over the age of 40 (see above), the internet has since been abuzz with articles about how Harris’ campaign is embracing memes to explain them. Hey, this Brat It’s a lot more introspective than you might imagine.All of this is valuable reader service for those who think introspection isn’t possible in pop music, or for those who have never listened to Robyn.
